{"product_id":"2026200015881-secondhand-highways-of-water-how-shipping-on-the-lakes-shaped-gippsland","title":"Highways Of Water: How Shipping On The Lakes Shaped Gippsland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLong before roads and railways stitched together the remote wilderness of Victoria's Gippsland region, it was water — the vast, shimmering network of lakes and rivers — that carried the lifeblood of commerce, settlement, and civilisation deep into its heart. Peter Synan's Highways of Water: How Shipping on the Lakes Shaped Gippsland chronicles the pivotal role that lake shipping played in forging one of Australia's most distinctive regional identities, tracing the rise and fall of a maritime culture that was as rugged and determined as the pioneers who depended upon it. From the bustling wharves of Metung and Paynesville to the paddle steamers and ketches that navigated the treacherous Gippsland Lakes, Synan presents a richly detailed portrait of an era when water was the only highway that mattered.\n\nWritten with the authority of meticulous local research and a deep affection for the region, this work stands as an essential contribution to Australian maritime and regional history, illuminating the economic and social forces that transformed a remote coastal wilderness into a thriving community. Synan's narrative style is both accessible and evocative, drawing on primary sources, personal accounts, and historical records to reconstruct a world that has all but vanished beneath the wake of modernity — yet whose legacy quietly endures in every town, trade route, and tradition that lines the Gippsland shore.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203103989979,"sku":"2026200015881-SECONDHAND","price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/32f262e9-e03c-4fbd-bfce-00e45cca5d0d.png?v=1788143760","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200015881-secondhand-highways-of-water-how-shipping-on-the-lakes-shaped-gippsland","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}